Lawsuits filed against Miramonte teachers suspected of molestations

LOS ANGELES - Lawsuits were filed Tuesday against the Los Angeles Unified School District on behalf of three female Miramonte Elementary School students who allege they were victims of lewd acts by two former teachers.

The two lawsuits were filed in Los Angeles Superior Court against the district, former teachers Mark Henry Berndt, 61, and Martin Bernard Springer, 49, and Miramonte principal Martin Sandoval.

An LAUSD spokeswoman said she did not know if the district would have any immediate reaction to the lawsuits. The district generally does not comment on pending litigation.

According to one of the suits, Berndt and Springer "forced plaintiff to eat semen, be photographed, be bound, be blindfolded and be inappropriately touched."

Berndt told the girl she was taking part in "tasting games," according to the lawsuit.

"Defendants ... knew that plaintiff's family could not afford for her to change schools and knew that plaintiff's family could not afford to move," according to the suit.

The girl in the another lawsuit endured similar ordeals and Berndt even provided her with a CD of songs he made for her, the complaint states.

The district knew of previous allegations against Berndt dating back to the early 1990s, when two students told a Miramonte counselor that they saw the teacher masturbating behind his desk during class, the suit states. But the counselor told them not to make up stories, according to the complaint.

In 2008, the father of a female student complained to Sandoval about inappropriate photos Berndt took of her and other students, the suit states, but Sandoval said the pictures "might be part of a class project" and dismissed the father's concerns.

The girl was transferred to Springer's class, where she was subsequently "inappropriately touched" by him on the leg and thigh, the suit states.

Springer was fired by the district today and was charged with three counts of lewd acts on a child, involving one girl. Berndt was removed from classes last year when the allegations arose and later retired just before his termination by the district was finalized. He is awaiting trial on 23 counts of lewd acts on a child.

Gregory Owen, the attorney who filed the lawsuits, said the actions of the teachers at Miramonte were "beyond horrible."

"I have a feeling we're going to find there were hundreds of children" abused at the school, noting that both Springer and Berndt taught at Miramonte for decades.